The 2026 World Cup not only rewrote the football history books with goals and titles: it also set records that range from the epic to the unbelievable, including 300,000 hot dogs sold which, if laid end to end, would cover more than 700 football fields.
The 23rd edition of the World Cup, organized for the first time by three countries —the United States, Mexico, and Canada— took place over 39 days with 48 teams and 104 matches, compared to the previous format of 32 teams and 64 matches, according to a report published by the EFE agency.
The numbers that no one expected
Kylian Mbappé has crowned himself as the top scorer in World Cup history with 22 goals accumulated over his three appearances, surpassing Lionel Messi, who finished with 21, and the German Miroslav Klose, who had held the record of 16 since Brazil 2014.
The French player scored 10 goals in the 2026 World Cup and also set a record in the knockout stages by reaching 11 goals in those rounds, more than any other active player.
For his part, Messi, who turned 39 during the competition, became the oldest player to score a hat trick in World Cup history during Argentina's debut against Algeria, which ended 3-0.
Cristiano Ronaldo solidified his position as the first and only footballer to score at least one goal in six different World Cup editions.
Furthermore, Ronaldo, Messi, and the Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa joined the elite group of players with six appearances in World Cups.
For the first time in history, four footballers scored at least seven goals in the same edition: Mbappé finished with 10; Messi with eight; and Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland each with seven.
Stadiums, coaches, and goalkeepers with their own brand
The Azteca Stadium, in Mexico City, became the first venue to host matches from three different World Cups: 1970, 1986, and 2026.
The Dutch coach Dick Advocaat, 78 years old, managed Curacao and broke the record for the oldest coach to lead a team in a World Cup.
The Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simón won the Golden Glove and set a new record for unbeaten play, accumulating 609 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal in the World Cup.
On his part, the goalkeeper from Curacao Eloy Room set a record in 90-minute matches by making 15 saves against Ecuador.
The third-place match between England and France, which ended 6-4, was the highest-scoring in that round in the history of the tournament. It was also the World Cup match with the most goals since Hungary's 10-1 victory over El Salvador in 1982.
The figures that move the world
FIFA announced a record revenue of 15 billion dollars, double the amount recorded during the Qatar 2022 cycle.
655 million dollars in prizes were also distributed among the 48 participating federations, a 50% increase compared to the previous edition, and the champion received 50 million dollars.
The total attendance exceeded 6.5 million spectators across the 16 official stadiums. During the group stage alone, 4,644,549 fans were recorded, a number greater than the total attendance of any previous edition.
The previous record was held by the United States in 1994, with approximately 3.5 million viewers, a mark that the 2026 World Cup surpassed before completing the first phase.
Additionally, the day with the highest attendance in World Cup history brought together 281,223 people for four matches.
Spotify recorded a 275% increase in streams of playlists related to the championship compared to Qatar 2022.
Mexico had the highest percentage growth in social media followers during the tournament, with an increase of 78%.
Additionally, for the first time in the 96-year history of the World Cup, FIFA would award champion rings to the team that wins the 2026 World Cup.
But among the most curious figures were the approximately 300,000 hot dogs sold during the group stage.
Aligned one after another, they would have covered 63 kilometers or more than 700 soccer fields, an image that encapsulates the unprecedented scale of this World Cup in its own way.
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